What to expect
Nature Research Intelligence aims to provide you with unrivalled and visually rich insights which help you make sense of the current landscape and decide on your strategic initiatives.
This report addresses the following questions (amongst others):
What are the emerging research areas for green energy?
How is green energy research related to the Sustainable Development Goals?
Where can funding be accessed for green energy projects?
How do green energy policies and priorities differ around the world?
How does your institution contribute to green energy research compared to your peers?
What are your green energy research collaboration opportunities?
About the report
In this report, the Global Landscape section uncovers the broad developments underway in the search for green energy solutions - from the latest research and funding trends, to comparisons of green energy policy and national priorities. Moreover, a breadth of examples of how research and emerging technologies are being applied and commercialised to support the sustainable energy transition are embedded throughout this section.
The Benchmarking section compares your organisation's performance against your research peers, incorporating subject and research concept analysis, and providing strategic recommendations.
The Collaboration section offers a view of research collaboration, at a global level and for your organisation - unearthing your leading domestic and international research partnerships.
This green energy report utilises research data, drawn from an extensive pool of sources, and measures outputs against a wealth of quantitative indicators. The research analysis is presented across a multitude of views: by document type; by field of research; by author affiliation data; by funding organisation and many more.
The report will be available in this interactive format, as well as through a PDF format.
Customers have the option to purchase the full report with the addition of a Nature Navigator page, built specifically for this green energy report. For more information about this product, please visit the Nature Navigator homepage: Nature Navigator | Nature Research Intelligence
The integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into power grids
With almost 14 million new electric cars registered globally in 2023 and electric vehicle sales experiencing a 35% year-on-year increase compared to 2022, electricity grids around the world face critical challenges in handling the increased demand for electricity to charge these vehicles. Without smart charging solutions and grid upgrades, there is potential for overloaded transformers and power outages. However, through utilising off-peak hours, and even feeding power back into the grid with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, EVs can also help stabilise the grid.
A 2024 Nature article explores the Demand Response and Load Balancing using Artificial intelligence (DR-LB-AI) framework, which produces AI-driven predictive demand forecasting and dynamic load distribution in order to optimise the EV charging infrastructure.
The DR-LB-AI framework was found to significantly enhance energy distribution efficiency, with potential to reduce grid overload during peak periods by 20%. Overall, the findings suggest that DR-LB-AI can not only mitigate peak demand stress, but also accelerate response times for load balancing and contribute to a far more resilient and scalable EV charging infrastructure.
China's shift to renewables
China is embracing the transition to green energy, and has rapidly expanded its solar and wind capacity. One of the major targets set - to reach 1,200 GW of renewables capacity by 2030 - was recently reached six years ahead of schedule.1 Other ongoing targets include a 2020 target to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.2
To help meet these targets, China has implemented the Energy Law of the People's Republic of China, effective from 1st January 2025. This new law provides comprehensive legislation to explicitly support and prioritize the development of renewable energy. It includes hydropower, wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, marine, and hydrogen energy, and encourages the orderly replacement of fossil energy by non-fossil energy. The law promotes the transformation of power grids to increase the capacity to accept, allocate and regulate renewable energy, while various types of energy storage are also supported.3
In October 2024, guidance on implementing renewable energy substitution actions was published. The plan focuses on developing large-scale wind and solar power bases. It encourages the use of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to deepen the integration of renewable energy systems. The plan also promotes opportunities for businesses and investors in grid modernization, industrial electrification, green hydrogen production, and electric vehicle (EV) and sustainable aviation sectors.4,5
Electrification is progressing rapidly in China, with industry responsible for 60% of the country’s consumption. One third of the growth in industrial demand is due to the manufacture of solar PV modules, batteries and electric vehicles. Meanwhile, air conditioners, electric vehicle charging, data centres and 5G networks all play a significant role in overall consumption. It was estimated that in 2024, data centres in China consumed over 100 TWh of electricity.6
China's surge in renewable energy in 2024 saw solar PV generation increase by 45% (an additional 265 TWh), wind power rise by 12%, and hydropower, the largest source of renewable power in China, up by 11%. This drastic increase led to limited coal-fired generation in China, although this still rose by a modest 1.2%.6
As China looks towards finalizing its 15th Five-Year Plan for the 2026-2030 period, flexibility is likely to be a key feature. A 2024 report by the International Energy Agency assesses the flexibility needs and resources in China, and proposes reforms of the Chinese energy market to enable China to meet its target of peak carbon emissions before 2030.1
1 https://www.iea.org/reports/meeting-power-system-flexibility-needs-in-china-by-2030
2 https://english.mee.gov.cn/News_service/media_news/202011/t20201112_807602.shtml
3 https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202411/content_6985761.htm
4 https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/202410/t20241030_1394119.html
5 https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-new-renewable-energy-plan-key-insights-for-businesses/
6 https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-2025